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TechnologyDaily Mobile
Europe Gives Green Light To Covisint
by William New
The European Commission this week granted regulatory approval to Covisint, the major automakers' online marketplace. Ford, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors, Renault and Nissan created the site and since have been joined by PSA Peugeot Citroen.
The commission found that the joint venture does not constitute a merger and does not restrict competition because the companies do not exercise joint or sole control over the new company, a commission statement said.
Covisint is a business-to-business marketplace aimed at streamlining the auto industry's procurement, allowing firms to collaborate on product development and improving supply-chain management tools. The initiative can cut costs and increase efficiency, the commission said. Several major component suppliers have indicated an interest in using the exchange, it said.
Such exchanges are becoming more common, a trend the commission generally encourages.
A Bid For Scientific, Technological Unity
One of the tech-oriented Swedish government's final acts in Washington before passing the yoke of the European Union presidency to Belgium was to attempt to foster cooperation among the various embassies' science counselors. According to an informal report from a late-June meeting, science counselors from the European Union and other European nations discussed ways to cooperate on science and technology issues so as to be a more credible partner for the United States, which the European nations see as "by far the most advanced nation" in those areas.
Although the counselors found some differences in their focus, they found common ground in developing reports on issues such as e-learning, biotechnology and ethics. Also, many European officials are planning trips to the United States, so they identified the exchange of information and advice on contacts and reports as the key benefits of cooperation.
The European Commission delegation in Washington proposed that the group use science attaches outside Washington to get reports on key developments elsewhere in the United States. Several countries have offices outside Washington.
The delegation also proposed the formation of a network of European researchers in the United States. The National Institutes of Health alone reportedly has some 600 European researchers, and some 500 Italian scientists are in the United States. However, the report expressed some doubt about the potential for such a network, both because of logistical and privacy reasons.
Belgium, meanwhile, assumed the EU presidency July 1, but its officials have been "shy" about meeting with the press, according to an embassy official.
The International Technology Calendar
The International Trade Administration's Office of Information Technologies is leading a trade mission on information and e-commerce technologies to Southeast Asia this week.
The July 31-Aug. 9 trip, led by office Director John McPhee will include visits to Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia. The trip is aimed at IT firms in the United States that specialize in Internet technologies, e-commerce and wireless technologies and that are looking to enter or expand their presence in the region. U.S. companies export billions of dollars in IT products and services to the three countries, and that figure is rapidly rising, according to the Commerce Department.
Meanwhile, innovation in information technology will be the subject of an Economic Strategy Institute event in Washington on Oct. 4-6. The event builds on the assumption that the IT revolution is just beginning, and that now is a critical time for governments to maintain a regulatory and policy environment that will encourage IT diffusion and investment.
The invitation-only meeting of a "select group of global technology leaders and government officials" will address information technology's potential to regenerate growth, consider lessons from the current downturn, ponder the prospects for broadband Internet access, and debate the policies and global agreements necessary to promote information technology.
The World Intellectual Property Organization also has an event on the international calendar. It will hold the Second International Conference on Electronic Commerce and Intellectual Property in Geneva from Sept. 19-21. The conference, which will be webcast live, will cover the legal, technical and policy aspects of the latest developments in e-commerce and intellectual property. The first conference was held in September 1999.
The Ease Of Electronic Documents
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) announced that it has nearly completed an update of its widely used rules on letters of credit to recognize electronic documents. The project involves adding a supplement to ICC's existing rules on so-called documentary credits.
The supplement, to be voted on by the ICC's banking commission in November, covers items such as formats for electronic documents and the place of presentation. It also provides new definitions for legal terms adapted to the online context. Such documents are used for electronic shipping records, customs clearance and banking, among other things.
The ICC hopes its update of the rules will take effect in June 2002.
An E-lection Without Much Of An Electorate
Despite significant press attention to the use of the Internet as a critical forum for the recent election in the United Kingdom, few voters actually used it, according to a report of the Electoral Commission. According to BBC News, the commission report said Web sites, e-mails and other electronic means delivered information to voters, but only a small number of voters accessed the information through the new technologies.
The report offers suggestions on how to improve turnout in the future, including the possibility of Internet voting. And it did detect a positive influence on tactical voting after specific Web sites were established.
Research Mates In Australia, North America Connect Virtually
The completion of a trans-Pacific optical-fiber network last week closed the loop for Australian and North American researchers seeking to transfer large amounts of data to each other when they collaborate.
The Australian Academic and Research Network (AARNet) activated a 10,000-mile connection to the Pacific Northwest Gigapop at the University of Washington in Seattle, which is a primary interconnection point for advanced research and education networks in the United States and Canada. The connection will be useful for sending and receiving "high-quality, remote-sense video, sound and multimedia material, as well as huge scientific datasets and other demanding digital objects like medical images," said George McLaughlin, executive director of AARNet.
On a separate note, Australian Prime Minister John Howard will meet with President Bush at the White House on Sept. 10. They will discuss bilateral and multilateral trade, among other topics. Coincidentally, former President Clinton will visit Australia at the same time, from Sept. 8-10, to speak on children's health matters.
The Bind To Thais
Internet2, a project of 187 research universities in the United States, has signed an agreement with representatives of the higher education and research community in Thailand to collaborate on the development of advanced networking technologies and applications. Signers of the agreement in Thailand included the Ministry of University Affairs and NECTEC, the information technology research center of the Thai National Science and Technology Development Agency.
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